DOCSLIB.ORG

Reassessing the Role of Captain Jack in the Modoc

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Reassessing the Role of Captain Jack in the Modoc “I MUST DO WHAT THEIR HEARTS SAY”: REASSESSING THE 73 ROLE OF CAPTAIN JACK IN THE MODOC WAR Julian Quiñones and when the Modoc voted, Captain Jack did not advocate for war, but for peace. It was the Modoc shaman Cho-ocks, called Curley Headed Doctor by the US Government, who rallied the Modoc warriors to war using the discur- Between 1872 and 1873, the U.S. Government fought a war with sive power of the Ghost Dance to buttress the morale of the Modoc warriors a tribe of Native Americans in Northern California known as the Modoc. and assure them victory. This paper will begin by outlining the historiographic The Modoc War was the only Native American war where an army general narrative, contextualizing the rhetorical power of the Ghost Dance, and fi- was killed and is considered the most costly war America ever fought com- nally, by using eyewitness accounts to help illuminate Captain Jack’s actions pared to the number of people involved.1 On July 1, 1873, Chief Kientpoos, both before and during the war, allowing us to see that his testimony was true. named Captain Jack by the Americans, was on trial for his role in the Mo- doc War. He claimed, “They [Modoc warriors] wanted to fight. I told them The Modocs’ ancestral homeland was on the shores of Tule Lake and not to fight. I wanted to talk and make peace and live right, but my men Lost River, but American settlers wanted that land for grazing and fishing. would not listen to me…”2 While the historiography has barely been updat- The American Government ordered the Modoc to move to a reservation ed since the 1960’s, historians such as Keith Murray, whose book The Modoc in Oregon. They were forced to share the reservation with an enemy tribe, and their War is the most comprehensive history of the Modoc War, claim the Klamath. After continual harassment at the hands of the Klamath, and that Captain Jack’s declaration was insincere. Murray compared Captain Jack being forced to live in indigent conditions on the reservation, Captain Jack to a child who, during his trial, was simply trying to redirect the blame from made the decision to return home, and moved back to his ancestral home- himself.3 By depicting the Modoc chief as a war-hungry leader, American land. Many Modoc decided to follow him. The settlers who now occupied colonizers were able to present themselves as victims of the savage Mo- the Modoc’s ancestral land were not happy about their return and asked the doc, creating a narrative that justified the genocidal acts of the Indian Wars. army to force the Modoc back to the reservation. Several peace talks took place between Captain Jack and various U.S. government officials. During all The majority of historians have relied too heavily upon government of the peace negotiations, Captain Jack was adamant about not using violence sources when researching the Modoc war. The U.S. Government did not under- and not leaving Tule Lake. The U.S. government decided to arrest Captain stand how Modoc leadership functioned and envisioned Captain Jack’s position Jack and the other Modoc leaders such as Hooker Jim, Schonchin John, and of chief functioned similar to that of a king, where he made all the decisions Curley Headed Doctor, assuming that the Modoc would accept relocation for the tribe, rather than as a part of a democratic system. However, upon close more readily if separated from their leadership. However, during the process examination of the primary sources of Wi-Ne-Ma and Wigwam and War-Path-- the army murdered an infant child and burned a sick mother alive in what is Modoc eyewitness accounts of the war—it appears that Captain Jack’s desire known as the massacre at Tule Lake.4 Instead of returning to the reservation, for peace may have been sincere. The Modoc made decisions democratically, the Modoc retreated to nearby lava beds that provided protection against the incoming American forces due to their natural trench-like formations. The 1 National Park Service: US Department of the Interior, “A Brief History of the Modoc U.S. government came to the lava beds and asked the Modoc to surrender, War,” National Monument California: Lava Beds, accessed March 26, 2014. http://www.nps. but the Modoc refused, and a firefight ensued. The Modoc War had begun. gov/labe/planyourvisit/upload/MODOC%20WAR.pdf (accessed October 4, 2014) 2 US House of Representatives. “Trials of the Modoc Prisoners.” Official Copies of Correspondent Related to the War with the Modoc Indians in 1872-74. Washington, DC: 43rd During the war, a new ritual, the Ghost Dance was performed as Congress, First Session, 1874. 177-178. 3 Keith A. Murray, The Modoc and Their War (Norman: University of Oaklahoma Press, 1959), 4 Alfred B. Meachem. Wi-Ne-Ma (The Woman Chief) and Her People (Hartford: American 283-284. Publishing Company, 1876), 152. 74 Julian Quiñones “I MUST DO WHAT THEIR HEARTS SAY” 75 a source of spiritual empowerment for the Modoc. The Ghost Dance was ing. However, this simple narrative, repeated throughout the historiography, believed to raise the ancestors, and with their guidance and empowerment neglects to fully recognize that the power that the Ghost Dance that inspired the Modoc could drive the “white man” out of the Americas. Once com- the Modoc warriors to battle was not wielded by Captain Jack, but by their pleted, life in the Americas would return to a state similar to that of the shaman. In order to assess the sincerity of Captain Jack’s testimony, a re-exam- Pre-Columbian Era. The empowering message of the Ghost Dance made ination of the Ghost Dance’s role in creating a pro-war sentiment is required. the Modoc warriors free of fear, and when battle began with the Amer- ican Army, the warriors believed they could not be defeated. The Ghost The primary advocate for war, Curly Headed Doctor, used to put on Dance was done around a large fire, with drumming, dancing, and, most elaborate shows to convince his fellow Modoc to believe in the power of the importantly, a large medicine flag hoisted up in order to channel the power Ghost Dance. He told them he cast his magic over them to protect them, of the ancestors. Curley Headed Doctor was the ceremonial leader of the and that no one in the lava beds would die.8 According to a Modoc who wit- Ghost Dance and preached the message that the Modoc had a divine right nessed the shaman’s power, he gave convincing performances when he cast to drive out the “white man”, which resonated with the beleaguered Mo- his magic; he twitched, and jerked about, and bled from his mouth. 9 He even doc people, who wanted nothing more than to get rid of the Americans.5 cast a spell, telling his warriors, “I want war. I am not tired. The white men cannot fight; they shoot in the air. I will make a medicine that will turn the During their time in the lava beds, sixty Modoc warriors fought ap- white man’s bullets away from the Modoc. We will not give up. We can kill proximately six-hundred U.S. soldiers. The U.S. Army suffered heavy casualties all that come.”10 To prove the legitimacy of his power, he shot a Modoc while the Modoc suffered none.6 This humiliated the US Government, who warrior who appeared untouched by the bullet.11 This display reinforced the decided to send a commission led by General Canby, to negotiate peace and people’s belief in the Ghost Dance and Curley Headed Doctor, and, most put an end to the US Army’s humiliation. During the peace negotiations, Cap- importantly, their divine right to their ancestral homelands. He told them they tain Jack requested the rights to their ancestral homeland, which Gen. Can- were empowered by his magic and as far as the Modoc knew, it was working. by refused. In retaliation, the Modoc ambushed the peace commission and No one had died during the initial skirmishes with the US Army. Curley Head- killed Gen. Canby. The American Government retaliated by cutting off the ed Doctor encouraged the Modoc belief that they were unstoppable and had Modoc’s water supply to the lava beds in an attempt to force them to a less no reason to fear war, because his magic gave them courage to stand up to an strategically advantaged position, and, ultimately, back to the reservation. The enemy that outnumbered them over ten to one. Protected in their lava beds tactic was successful, and soon after that, the medicine flag was abandoned, by the magic of the Ghost Dance and their shaman Curley Headed Doctor, and the Modoc fled the lava beds where they had been residing for over a the Modoc had proven themselves more than a match for the U.S. military. year. Shortly after, Captain Jack gave himself up, too tired from the fighting and running. The U.S. Army took him and the other Modoc leaders prisoner.7 Every assault came with the inherent risk of the shaman’s magic fail- Captain Jack was court-martialed and hanged on October 3, 1873 after fighting ing the Modoc, and as the war raged on, the promise of a casualty-free war four major battles and several small skirmishes over thirteen months of fight- came to naught. Not long after the US Army cut off the water supply to the lava beds, the first Modoc death occurred.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Indian Country Welcome To
    Travel Guide To OREGON Indian Country Welcome to OREGON Indian Country he members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized Ttribes and Travel Oregon invite you to explore our diverse cultures in what is today the state of Oregon. Hundreds of centuries before Lewis & Clark laid eyes on the Pacific Ocean, native peoples lived here – they explored; hunted, gathered and fished; passed along the ancestral ways and observed the ancient rites. The many tribes that once called this land home developed distinct lifestyles and traditions that were passed down generation to generation. Today these traditions are still practiced by our people, and visitors have a special opportunity to experience our unique cultures and distinct histories – a rare glimpse of ancient civilizations that have survived since the beginning of time. You’ll also discover that our rich heritage is being honored alongside new enterprises and technologies that will carry our people forward for centuries to come. The following pages highlight a few of the many attractions available on and around our tribal centers. We encourage you to visit our award-winning native museums and heritage centers and to experience our powwows and cultural events. (You can learn more about scheduled powwows at www.traveloregon.com/powwow.) We hope you’ll also take time to appreciate the natural wonders that make Oregon such an enchanting place to visit – the same mountains, coastline, rivers and valleys that have always provided for our people. Few places in the world offer such a diversity of landscapes, wildlife and culture within such a short drive. Many visitors may choose to visit all nine of Oregon’s federally recognized tribes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Modoc Indian War
    THE MODOC INDIAN WAR by Kenneth L. Torgerson A Thesis Presented to the Department of History and the Graduate Division of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science JUNE 1954 APPROVED: ~esis (For the CollDDittee) ~ c~.J~\ ' "' bo ~ ~ '--...:.., "'\Q ~'- ~~ \ ') ! ! l: Table of Contents Prologue Chapter I. The Causes . ............................................. 1 II. Prelude to Disaster • •••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••••••••••• 24 III. The Fighting ............................................ 31 IV. The Assassination • •••• 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 39 V. Capture ..••••.•.•••..........•.••••..•.•.....••••...•••. 55 VI. The Trial • •••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 67 VII. Aftermath and Conclusions ............................... 80 Epilogue Bibliography List of Illustrations: I. Map of the Lava Beds Region ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1 II. Reconaissance of the Lava Beds • ••••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••• 32 III. " ft ft " " .......................... 33 IV. Photo of the Lava Beds • ••••••••••••••• 0 • ' ••••••••••••••• 34 ft II II V. " " • •••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••• 35 VI. " II II If II .................................. 38 II II ft ft It VII. •••••••••••••o•••••••••••••••••••• 46 II ft VIII. " " " • ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 • 55 ft IX. " " " " ................................ ., . 56 ti x. " " " " .. .. • • • • • 0 •••••••• •• 0 •••• 63 l -- PROLOGUE Mark Twain's "Gilded Age" was a fabulous era. The "Gospel of Wealth" oreated economic
    [Show full text]
  • The Modoc War War in the the Modoc War Was the Only Major Native American War Fought in Lava Beds California and the Only One in Which a General Was Killed
    National Park Service Lava Beds U.S. Department of the Interior Lava Beds National Monument A Brief History of the Modoc War War in the The Modoc War was the only major Native American war fought in Lava Beds California and the only one in which a general was killed. It was also one of the most costly wars in U.S. history. According to some estimates it cost $10,000 (about $300,000 today) per warrior to subdue the Modocs in battle. The Modoc warriors totaled between 50 and 60, while there were as many as 1000 U.S. troops at the height of the conflict. The war lasted six months, from November 29, 1872 to June 1, 1873, although tensions leading to the conflict began much earlier. Much of the war was centered around Captain Jack’s Stronghold, a natural lava fortress characterized by deep trenches and small caves. The Stronghold was named for the Modocs’ war leader Keintpoos, or Captain Jack as he was known to the settlers. Some 150 Modoc men, women,and children lived in the Stronghold for five months of the war, including the harsh winter months. By the war’s end, the fatalities included 53 U.S. soldiers, 17 civilians, 2 Warm Springs Scouts, 5 Modoc women and children, and 15 Modoc warriors, five of which were killed in battle. Background to the The sage brush-covered basins and transition. Additionally, there was Conflict forested mountains of central northern friction between the Modocs and California and southern Oregon were Klamths. For many Modocs the the homeland of the Modoc people.
    [Show full text]
  • Oregon's History
    Oregon’s History: People of the Northwest in the Land of Eden Oregon’s History: People of the Northwest in the Land of Eden ATHANASIOS MICHAELS Oregon’s History: People of the Northwest in the Land of Eden by Athanasios Michaels is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Contents Introduction 1 1. Origins: Indigenous Inhabitants and Landscapes 3 2. Curiosity, Commerce, Conquest, and Competition: 12 Fur Trade Empires and Discovery 3. Oregon Fever and Western Expansion: Manifest 36 Destiny in the Garden of Eden 4. Native Americans in the Land of Eden: An Elegy of 63 Early Statehood 5. Statehood: Constitutional Exclusions and the Civil 101 War 6. Oregon at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 137 7. The Dawn of the Civil Rights Movement and the 179 World Wars in Oregon 8. Cold War and Counterculture 231 9. End of the Twentieth Century and Beyond 265 Appendix 279 Preface Oregon’s History: People of the Northwest in the Land of Eden presents the people, places, and events of the state of Oregon from a humanist-driven perspective and recounts the struggles various peoples endured to achieve inclusion in the community. Its inspiration came from Carlos Schwantes historical survey, The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History which provides a glimpse of national events in American history through a regional approach. David Peterson Del Mar’s Oregon Promise: An Interpretive History has a similar approach as Schwantes, it is a reflective social and cultural history of the state’s diversity. The text offers a broad perspective of various ethnicities, political figures, and marginalized identities.
    [Show full text]
  • Kindergarten Tribal History Curriculum
    Grand Ronde TRIBAL HISTORY CURRICULUM KINDERGARTEN Copyright © 2019 The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. All rights reserved. All materials in this curriculum are copyrighted as designated. Any republication, retransmission, reproduction, or sale of all or part of this curriculum is prohibited. This curriculum was funded in large by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) with the passing of Senate Bill 13 in 2017. Senate Bill 13, “ calls upon the Oregon Department of Education to develop a statewide curriculum relating to the Native American experience in Oregon, including tribal history, tribal sovereignty, culture, treaty rights, government, socioeconomic experiences, and current events” (Senate Bill 13: Tribal History/Shared History). In addition to the curriculum developed by ODE, all 9 of the federally recognized tribes in Oregon were designated funds to create their own native based curriculum to tell their story. This is Grand Ronde’s story. Introduction Welcome to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Tribal History Curriculum. To begin, we would like to thank you for taking the time to learn and teach about the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. This curriculum began from the passing of Senate Bill 13 in 2017 and was funded by the Oregon Department of Education. It was brought about by the need in Oregon schools for historically accurate and culturally relevant information about Oregon Native Americans and as a response to the high volume of teacher requests for classroom-ready materials about Oregon Native Americans. The process of creating the curriculum was a tribal wide effort. Several departments including the tribe’s education department, tribal library, natural resources, cultural resources department and many other tribal staff were involved.
    [Show full text]
  • Oklahoma Indian Country Guide in This Edition of Newspapers in Education
    he American Indian Cultural Center and Museum (AICCM) is honored Halito! Oklahoma has a unique history that differentiates it from any other Tto present, in partnership with Newspapers In Education at The Oklahoman, state in the nation. Nowhere else in the United States can a visitor hear first the Native American Heritage educational workbook. Workbooks focus on hand-accounts from 39 different American Indian Tribal Nations regarding the cultures, histories and governments of the American Indian tribes of their journey from ancestral homelands, or discover how Native peoples have Oklahoma. The workbooks are published twice a year, around November contributed and woven their identities into the fabric of contemporary Oklahoma. and April. Each workbook is organized into four core thematic areas: Origins, Oklahoma is deeply rooted in American Indian history and heritage. We hope Native Knowledge, Community and Governance. Because it is impossible you will use this guide to explore our great state and to learn about Okla- to cover every aspect of the topics featured in each edition, we hope the Humma. (“Red People” in the Choctaw language.)–Gena Timberman, Esq., workbooks will comprehensively introduce students to a variety of new subjects and ideas. We hope you will be inspired to research and find out more information with the help of your teachers and parents as well as through your own independent research. The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum would like to give special thanks to the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department for generously permitting us to share information featured in the Oklahoma Indian Country Guide in this edition of Newspapers in Education.
    [Show full text]
  • The DEBITAGE Say It in French…And It’S More Scientific! the Official Newsletter of the Modoc National Forest Heritage Program Volume 5, Issue 1 November 2015
    The DEBITAGE Say it in French…and it’s more scientific! The Official Newsletter of the Modoc National Forest Heritage Program Volume 5, Issue 1 November 2015 Special points of More Emigrant Trail Interpretive interest: Signs Installed Student Volunteer program This past fiscal year saw the installation of the last four Emigrant Trail since 1978. Hosting two students in 2015. Interpretive signs installed across the Forest. One sign was placed along the Applegate Trail (1846) at the low water crossing of Fletcher Creek in the Devil’s Passport in Time since 1991. Garden. One sign was placed near the Burnett Cutoff (1848) alongside of Three PIT projects offered in Summer 2015. Highway 139 below Tule Lake, with second sign placed about thirty miles south above the Pit River near the junction of the Burnett Cutoff and the Lassen Trail (1848). The final sign was place at the entrance to the Pit River Canyon noted in During the FY-15 field season: emigrant diaries for the multiple crossings of the river over a relatively short 1,176+ volunteer hours were distance. contributed to the Heritage Program. All three emigrant trails – the Applegate Trail (or South Road to Oregon), the MDF crews recorded, re- Lassen Trail and the Burnett Cutoff – are all part of the National Historic Trails recorded, updated, monitor- System as components of the California Trail and the Oregon Trail. The Modoc ed or re-flagged 250+ National Forest has, collectively, about 90 miles of these trails crossing Forest archaeological and historic sites. lands. In a few locations the roads are still in use after over 160 years and in other locations traces are no longer visible.
    [Show full text]
  • Kintpuash (Captain Jack) (C
    Kintpuash (Captain Jack) (c. 1837-1873) By Boyd Cothran Kintpuash (Strikes the Water Brashly), also known as Captain Jack and Kientpoos, was a principal headman of the Modoc tribe during the 1860s and early 1870s. He rose to national prominence during the Modoc War of 1872-1873. Leading a coalition of Modoc bands in a war of resistance against U.S. Army forces and local militia, he held off a numerically superior force for several months. Kintpuash was hanged by the army at Fort Klamath in southeastern Oregon with three other Modoc leaders on October 3, 1873. He was the only Native American leader to be tried and convicted as a war criminal. And his life highlights many of the central conflicts over emerging federal reservation policies, the continuing practice of forced removals, and the war aims of the federal government, local citizens, and Native groups in the post-Civil War era. Born in about 1837 in a village along the Lost River in the Modocs' ancestral territory in what is today Oregon, Kintpuash was among the Modoc signatories to the 1864 treaty with the Klamath, the Modoc, the Yahooskin Paiute, and the United States. Under the terms of the treaty, the Modoc people were to relocate to the Klamath Reservation. Kintpuash initially complied with the terms of the treaty, but he later repudiated it when he found conditions on the reservation intolerable and the government unwilling to address the Modocs’ grievances. In April 1870, Kintpuash and his followers returned to their villages along the Lost River. Back in his homeland, Kintpuash lived near his white neighbors.
    [Show full text]
  • OREGON LAWS 2019 SCR 12 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 12 Whereas Kintpuash
    OREGON LAWS 2019 SCR 12 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 12 Whereas hostilities resumed and the Modocs were decisively defeated in the Battle of Dry Lake on May 10, 1873, scattering the surviving Modocs Whereas Kintpuash (“Strikes the Water into small groups; and Brashly”) was born in about 1837 along the Lost Whereas Kintpuash was captured with his family River in the ancestral territory of the Modoc tribe on June 4, 1873, effectively ending Modoc resistance; in southern Oregon; and and Whereas Kintpuash, also known as Captain Jack Whereas Kintpuash and five other Modoc warri- and Kientpoos, became a principal headman of the ors were tried by a federal military court, convicted Modocs by the early 1860s; and and sentenced to death; and Whereas Kintpuash was among the Modoc Whereas two of the Modocs had their sentences signatories to the 1864 treaty between the United reduced to life imprisonment, but Kintpuash, States and the Modoc, Klamath and Yahooskin Schonchin John, Black Jim and Boston Charley tribes; and were hanged at Fort Klamath on October 3, 1873, Whereas the 1864 treaty terms required the the first Indians to be tried and executed by the Modocs to relocate from their ancestral lands to the federal government for war crimes; and Whereas the remaining members of the Modoc Klamath Reservation; and tribe, numbering approximately 150, were herded Whereas Kintpuash and the Modocs initially into rail cars and sent as prisoners of war to the complied with the 1864 treaty but became disillu- Indian Territory (Oklahoma); and sioned with
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliographies of Northern and Central California Indians. Volume 3--General Bibliography
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 370 605 IR 055 088 AUTHOR Brandt, Randal S.; Davis-Kimball, Jeannine TITLE Bibliographies of Northern and Central California Indians. Volume 3--General Bibliography. INSTITUTION California State Library, Sacramento.; California Univ., Berkeley. California Indian Library Collections. St'ONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. Office of Library Programs. REPORT NO ISBN-0-929722-78-7 PUB DATE 94 NOTE 251p.; For related documents, see ED 368 353-355 and IR 055 086-087. AVAILABLE FROMCalifornia State Library Foundation, 1225 8th Street, Suite 345, Sacramento, CA 95814 (softcover, ISBN-0-929722-79-5: $35 per volume, $95 for set of 3 volumes; hardcover, ISBN-0-929722-78-7: $140 for set of 3 volumes). PUB TYPE Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS American Indian History; *American Indians; Annotated Bibliographies; Films; *Library Collections; Maps; Photographs; Public Libraries; *Resource Materials; State Libraries; State Programs IDENTIFIERS *California; Unpublished Materials ABSTRACT This document is the third of a three-volume set made up of bibliographic citations to published texts, unpublished manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings, motion pictures, and maps concerning Native American tribal groups that inhabit, or have traditionally inhabited, northern and central California. This volume comprises the general bibliography, which contains over 3,600 entries encompassing all materials in the tribal bibliographies which make up the first two volumes, materials not specific to any one tribal group, and supplemental materials concerning southern California native peoples. (MES) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • KLAMATH /\MATII INI)IANJRE,Setht Y C: Et I
    ranlinr - 4. Ii.(fI4O1 cl r9\ 5s C ' ETHNOGRAPHIC s'..L- tcH p' )T\' r SKETCH :sci41J OF THE f: Pr5T1 -11E1 L 1 ttc!f\\ \AKLAMATH /\MATII INI)IANJRE,SEThT y C: Et I. L/"° kt, INDIANS ckt1IPK / 41(chat,rc F % A" .. OF SOUTHWESTERN OREGON N 'I S j bli C' ''U OX] by ALBERT SAMUELGATSCHET 4 I'VYA - I) S. C Cm DIP. TIMPEN '4?. .1 4f.thrth' DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U. 8. GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION J. W. POWELL IN CHARGE Ethnographic Sketch of THE KLAMATH I.XDIAKS op SOUTHWESTERN OREGON ALBERT SAMUEL GATSCHET An Extract from CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Vol.II, part I. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1890 FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION 1966 THE SHOREY BOOK STORE 815 Third Avenue Seattle, Washington 98104 SJS # 118 ETHNOGRAPHIC SKETCH OF THE KALAMATH INDIANS FOURTH PRINTING Of Facsimile Reprint Limited to 150 Copies November 1973 ISBN # 0-8466-0118-4 (InPaper Covers) ISBN # 0-8466-2118-5 (InPublisher's LibraryBindings) CONTENTS Page Letter of Transmittal Vii Ethnographic sketch ix Introduction to the texts 1 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. SMiTHSONIAN INSTITUTION, BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., June 25, 1890. SIR: I have the honor to transmit toyou my report upon the Kiamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon, the result of long and patient study.It deals with their beliefs, legends, and traditions, theirgovernment and social life, their racial and somatic peculiarities, and,more extensively, with their language.To this the reader is introduced bynumerous ethnographic "Texts," suggested or dictated
    [Show full text]
  • Traders and Raiders: Aspects of Trans-Basin and California-Plateau Commerce, 1800-1830
    Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 127-137 (1981). Traders and Raiders: Aspects of Trans-Basin and California-Plateau Commerce, 1800-1830 THOMAS N. LAYTON OLLOWING introduction of the horse predatory bands of horse nomads between Finto the northern Rockies in the late 1800 and 1830. It is argued that concurrent seventeenth century, Indians there became settlement shifts occurred during this period mobile middlemen linking the Pacific-Plateau as pedestrian Indians moved to more pro­ and Middle-Missouri trade systems (Wood tected, less vulnerable locations away from 1972). By the end of the eighteenth century, the major trade routes frequented by Cahforniahad become integrated into this net­ mounted traders and raiders. work by a northern and an eastern route. The northern slave route hnked with The Dalles THE KLAMATH SLAVE TRADE on the Columbia River and incorporated an intermediate node at Yainax Butte near the In 1826, Peter Skene Ogden, an employee California-Oregon border. The eastern trans- of the Hudson's Bay Company and the leader Great Basin route linked California with the of a brigade of fur trappers, became the first Rockies via the Humboldt River and incor­ European to visit and describe the Klamath; porated an intermediate node at the Hum­ he counted one horse. But the Klamath were boldt Sink. Cahfornia horses and manufac­ already practicing a frankly defensive hfestyle tured goods may have been the major because of predation by mounted raiders commodities on this route. The documen­ from the north. Ogden (Elhott 1910:210) tation for long-distance commerce by horse­ recorded a hidden village in the Klamath men in Cahfornia and the Great Basin is Marsh less than 30 miles from the California- scattered, fragmentary, and of mixed quality.
    [Show full text]